If this is what the future holds
by NegativeBlue
Summary: Emma and Regina and a magic mirror. It goes a little differently this time.


Okay this fic is based/inspired by creature-a on tumblr, it's about the magic-mirror scene, but it goes a little differently. I basically did a take 2 based on this premise.

There's no Hood in this universe or whatever, which means Regina also never gave her heart away because it's too tricky to write around that. The idea is this fic takes place a few days after the events of 3x17.

* * *

"Why the mirror again?"

"Because," Regina starts as she stands up from her chair and places the book they were studying face-down on the table, "they are like windows in a way. They are a surprisingly helpful tools when it comes to watching people, or events play out from a distance."

Despite the fact she has her eyes trained on the mirror in front of them, she can practically feel Emma's gaze boring holes into her skull. She wonders, briefly, whether Emma can sense her reluctance about going ahead with this avenue of magic. It was one thing to look into other worlds, it was another thing to..

"So you want me to what? Spy on Ariel and Eric again? Because I don't see how…"

"No."

"Then what…"

Crossing her arms, Regina finally steals a quick glance at Emma's way. "I have a different idea in mind."

"Based on that book you had me try and read? The emphasis being on try," Emma says in a bitter tone.

"Well at least you did make some progress. If you continue at this pace, you might finish that particular book in a few years. I have another two hundred remaining after that however."

Groaning made by Emma causes Regina's lips to twitch in amusement. She isn't going to tell the other woman that she was in fact getting better at reading the magic books. And though she will never admit it out loud, Emma turned out to be a surprisingly quick learner. But she also knows that theory was just that, and Emma's raw and undefined magic seems to respond better if she is forced to think on her feet.

"If you focus your magic on the mirror you can make it show you almost anything," Regina continues after she collects herself.

Deep down, very deep down, she knows that this might be a bad idea. The words Rumple once spoke to her ring in her ears. And she knows even he was troubled by some of which he had seen; remembers how he had insisted that glimpses never tell the whole story. But she needs to know, she needs to try. Because not knowing; being faced with this uncertainty when it came to Henry never remembering, is slowly tearing her apart.

She catches Emma's slightly worried look from the corner of her eyes and ignores the niggling voice in the back of her head telling her to stop while she can, and then presses on. "If you concentrate hard enough you could even see your future."

"You're..you're kidding." She hears Emma stutter out. "But that's...I thought you said only Rumple could.."

"He does. Though he only saw bits and pieces. And to answer your unspoken question; I can't, no, it's beyond my capabilities."

"But you believe I..I..can?" Emma takes a few steps then, until she stops right in front of Regina and she is forced to look at her, instead of the mirror. "Regina.."

"I think you might be able to yes. They could only be some glimpses, a few blurred images of what the future might hold for you but…"

"Why?" Emma immediately interrupts her, and the tone she uses immediately signals to Regina that she isn't going to let this go without a proper explanation.

But she still tries. "Aren't you at all curious?"

"Would you stop deflecting? I am not buying this crap about you wanting to teach me to look into the future just because." She frowns then, and Regina in turns tries to keep her expression as neutral as possible. "Besides, isn't this..isn't this dangerous or whatever? I haven't forgotten about the three rules of magic you taught me you know."

"None of those involve looking into the future dear."

"Again..why?" Emma repeats and the way she keeps staring makes Regina decidedly uncomfortable. She knows it's not fair to keep her own agenda hidden, but at the same time the truth would be a gamble. And if Emma refuses, she doesn't know how to handle the way this sparkle of hope would be crushed once more.

"I know when you are being insincere Regina."

"Why does it matter what my motives are for teaching you this?" She finally huffs, her hands flying upwards in utter frustration.

"You just had me read a book on what not to do concerning magic, and you were listing all the possible ways I could screw things up. So excuse me for not trusting something like you suddenly wanting to teach me to see the future out of the blue, okay?"

Opening her mouth to reply, Regina promptly closes it again when she realizes she truly doesn't have any counter arguments. She watches helplessly as Emma lets out a little puff of breath in frustration and crosses her arms.

"You know what, I think we're done here for the day. I'll just..go see if my parents are done with the checkup at the hospital or something," Emma mutters.

She turns around and Regina quietly watches her walk over to the coat-rack. It's not until Emma reaches for her red leather jacket that Regina finally speaks up. "Emma..wait." Because she likes to think it might be worth it in the end. Even if admitting the truth might actually convince Emma not to go ahead with this.

She swallows. Once, twice, but the lump in her throat still remains and she closes her eyes, balls her hands to fists at her sides before finally turning to face a waiting Emma, still standing next to the door. "It's about Henry." She speaks so softly it's nearly a whisper, but she knows Emma has heard her anyways. She knows by the way Emma's eyes soften ever so slightly, how all the frustration drains from her face, how she immediately lets go of the jacket and walks back up to the mirror.

"But you said…" Emma says as she licks her lips and her eyes flicker from the mirror to Regina again. "You said; my future...what does this.."

She can practically see the wheels spinning in Emma's head. The way her face contorts in thought, the way she keeps staring at the mirror as if it was holding the answers she was looking for. And then Emma's mouth drops open a little and her eyes snap back onto Regina, and she knows Emma has figured it out.

"You want to know if he's in my future," Emma says. "You want to know.."

"Yes," Regina interrupts her. She doesn't want to hear the rest, to hear the depiction of a possible future that only encompasses Emma and Henry, and whomever she chooses as a partner at some point. The thought of Henry never remembering all the years she raised him is an unbearable one. But she also knows that...if the glimpses she sees show that he's happy, it might not hurt as badly in the end. Perhaps she can even eventually accept it and move on, though she has no clue how she will right now.

She wonders if it shows somehow, with the way the corners of Emma's mouth droop down, the sympathy clearly shining in Emma's eyes as she continues to look at her. She wonders if it's painted across her face in bright streaks, the way everything inside of her crumbles at the thought a future without ever seeing Henry again. She wonders how she still resists this ever-growing urge to reach into her own chest and remove her heart, and never place it back in again.

"Do you really want to know?" Emma asks, as seemingly an eternity passes in silence.

"Don't you?" She returns far more calmly than she feels.

"But I..." Emma stops mid-sentence, shakes her head slightly, and Regina wonders what it is she was going to say. "Is it set in stone?"

"Likely," she responds, as she stares past the mirror at the wall and thinks of everything Rumple had once told her about seeing into the future. "You might not see that much, it might not even work at all."

"Right. Concentrate on what I want to see? Do I keep my eyes open?"

She turns to Emma, and her heart hammers in her throat as she is overcome with nervosity of what they are about to do. "You can close them," she says, licking her suddenly dry lips, "but in the end it doesn't matter."

Nodding, Emma turns to face the mirror fully, and Regina watches silently as she closes her eyes and opens her hands a little; palms facing outwards.

The mirror clouds over at first and Regina clenches her jaw as she prepares for what might follow. The images, when they appear a few seconds later are distorted and Regina can only just make out a few vague shapes of what she assumes to be people. When they clear up however, she hears a loud gasp coming from the woman standing next to her, and her own mouth falls open in surprise as she takes in the still distorted images.

Distorted, but still clear enough to make out an image of Henry taking care of a baby. She muses it has to be Mary Margaret and David's child at first, but then the images cloud over and shift once more, and she's completely stunned speechless by what unfolds in front of her next. Her eyes are glued to the mirror, and its with utter disbelief that she sees carbon copies of herself and Emma holding hands and kissing softly as they watch Henry play with the baby.

Then the images fade out once more and Regina doesn't even dare to look away again. She has no idea what to say, and she also knows she will need a great deal more than a few minutes to process this information.

"It..it doesn't lie does it? That's really..wow," Emma stutters out finally after another minute has passed.

"Your approach to viewing the future might have been faulty."

There's a snort in reply, and Regina reluctantly turns to face Emma, only to see Emma stare at her inquisitively. "Do you really believe that? Because I don't think you do."

"I did believe you would've reacted differently to this however," Regina replies.

Since it is easier to talk about this like it is something normal, instead of something that was turning her world upside down. Besides, as long as they talk about it, her brain wouldn't try to process everything it had seen, it wouldn't start to dissect every single moment she had witnessed. But she also knows, from the way Emma keeps looking at her as if she was seeing her in an entirely different light, that even if she ignores this ever happened, Emma likely never would.

"This _is _actually me freaking out. I'm just..wow."

"You already said that," Regina says, her lips forming a soft little smile for a second. Then it fades again as she fully realizes the implications of what they had seen. "I think I should go though, that was enough magic lessons for the day I would think."

She turns on her heels and collects the books and the small case filled with magical trinkets, and is about to make her way to get her coat when Emma's voice stops her.

"You never thought about it?" Emma asks, and Regina's head shoots up slightly as she becomes aware just how close Emma is. "I mean we fought so much about the kid, and we...I," Emma's breath hits her neck and Regina feels goosebumps erupt on her skin everywhere. "I've thought about it," Emma finally admits, and Regina let's go of the case and books and digs her nails in the table as she tries to center herself.

"Its just some pictures in the mirror," Regina tries feebly, though it sounds weak even to her own ears. "We don't even know.."

She senses Emma moving closer still, and drawing in a deep breath Regina turns around to face the other woman. "Besides you have Hook," she states in a slightly cold tone, even as she dodges Emma's intense gaze.

"Yes, I have, if I was interested in him. This isn't about Hook, Regina. It's about you and me. I never thought…" Regina tries to move away from the table then, but she hadn't counted on how fast Emma is. She places her hands on the table on either side of Regina effectively corralling her in and giving her barely any room to breathe, let alone move.

"Emma…"

"No, will you just listen to me for a second? I never thought we could be like that, that it could happen like that. But what I just saw Regina…"

"It changes nothing," Regina interrupts her, because she's still struggling. Struggling with the idea that what she has just seen could truly be them in the future. Struggling with the idea of being happy and carefree. With having a family again in her mansion that has been too empty and too big to live in all by herself, for far too long now.

"It changes everything," Emma counters back and Regina freezes when Emma moves one of her hands up to cup her chin. There's a gentle pressure there, forcing her to look up in Emma's eyes, and she wonders, as those same eyes lower to look to her lips, if this might be the moment that Emma will kiss her.

And that's when they both hear people talking and spring apart just as the door to the apartment opens.

"Hey Emma," Mary Margaret says and her face scrunches up slightly as she looks from Regina to Emma. She tilts her head as if asking if everything was allright and Regina is relieved when Emma merely shrugs in response.

"Check-up went okay?" Emma aks instead to defuse the clearly lingering tension in the room. Though Regina still fidgets a little in discomfort as Mary Margaret gives her another odd look as if she was trying to figure something out.

Tuning out the chattering and David rummaging around in the kitchen, Regina collects the books and the case and all but runs towards the coat-rack to grab her coat.

"Not staying for some coffee?" David asks.

Zipping her coat, Regina turns briefly to find three sets of eyes scrutinizing her and her grip on the case intensifies. "No, I'm fine. It's been a long day, and I'd like to…"

"Can I go with you?"

It's only a few words, but Emma's question stuns her into silence.

"I mean…" Emma turns to face her parents, seemingly blushing a little before her head whips back, blonde hair dancing around her face and obscuring her features. "We still had some pages to go over?"

She doesn't reply right away, still contemplating what Emma is asking of her. But when she finds her voice again a few seconds later, her mouth forms around the word; no, but she never actually utters it. Instead she thinks of hand-holding and kissing and a little baby wrapped up in blankets and she meets Emma's hopeful eyes with her own.

And takes a leap of faith.


End file.
